


Reminders

by ChimaeraKitten



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Sad, yes editing we do not die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 14:39:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8804779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChimaeraKitten/pseuds/ChimaeraKitten
Summary: Artemis wants something permanent. Something she can hold onto after her world is ripped apart.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago, and I didn't do that much editing. You have been warned

_It was May, and the night was just cold enough for Artemis to wish she had a coat, but not cold enough for her to swallow her pride and admit it._

Artemis and Wally were sitting at a little table outside a brewery restaurant, getting colder as they waited for their food. Artemis looked back from the doors where she had hoped to see a waiter to find Wally franticly scribbling on a napkin.

“What’s up babe?” she asked at the exact same time he piped up with:

“I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo”

“What?”

“I might get a tattoo. I mean, if I _can_. Still unclear on the extents of the speed-healing.”

“I heard you, what I meant was: Why?”

“I dunno, I just thought it could be a cool thing to do”

Artemis was trying her best to think of a way to talk him out of it. _Time to stall._ She asked “what of?”

“Something like this” he replied, holding out the napkin. She took it, holding it closer to the candle in the center of the table for a better look. Scribbled on it in blue pen was an arrowhead- her symbol- with a lightning bolt on top of it. “The bolt would be red, see, and of course the arrow would be green”. She looked up, to his big, cute-baby-animal eyes “what do you think?”

“Weeeellll…” she drew the word out, trying to think. “It’s very sweet and all, but a tattoo is a big commitment. What if we break up or something?”

“Are you planning to break up with me?”

“Nooo…”

“Then I don’t see the problem.”

“If people see it, they could ask questions about the symbols. Questions we don’t want to answer.”

“truuueee”

“And besides, you don’t need to get a tattoo to tell me you love me. You can do it every time I see you. An in person ‘love you’ is better than some silly permanent reminder.” She leaned over the table to kiss him, handing him the napkin at the same time.

“I guess you’re right”. He said when she broke away, a bit disappointed.

“’Course I am, silly” she said, glad she had talked him out of it. Any more discussion was halted by the arrival of their food.

* * *

 

_It was June, and it was snowing, and Artemis’s world was ripped out from under her in a single moment._

“He wanted me to tell you- he loved you.”

And of course, that was true, wasn’t it. That’s all Wally ever wanted to do, right? To show how much he loved her.

Beyond that, no more thoughts came, because her body had realized the truth faster than her brain, and she couldn’t… she couldn’t…

_She loved him. Oh god, what was she going to do?_

* * *

 

_It was October, and Artemis had finally worked up the courage to pack up Wally’s stuff. Any scent of him had long since faded anyway._

She’d been prepared to find a lot of things. Pictures, letters, keepsakes, even a ring wouldn’t have been out of place. (She knew he’d been thinking about it) what she wasn’t prepared to find was a crumpled napkin in his T-shirt drawer. She looked down at it, remembering the night, a year and a half ago now, when he’d considered getting a tattoo. She hadn’t realized he kept it- that it had meant anything.

_“An in person ‘I love you’ is better than some silly permanent reminder”_

She wished she could have an in person ‘I love you’ one more time.

* * *

 

_It was November, and Artemis had finished packing_

Most of it had been loaded up in Iris’s car to be donated, but a few things remained. Some pictures, keepsakes, his favorite hoodie.

No tears fell, as she watched the overloaded car pull out of the driveway. She tried to tell herself it was just stuff, that there was no reason to cry because what was important was still here. Besides, she’d found her courage again, and she was strong enough to deny the tears.

She absentmindedly touched the fresh bandage on her arm. It was the only thing that felt anchored in that moment.

If she couldn’t have an in person ‘I love you’ then a reminder would have to do.


End file.
